If I was in Atlantis
by Lieutenant Cresent
Summary: A new scientist goes on a mission with SGA1 and 2, and comes back with something... unexpected. Follow her journey through Atlantis, and the reactions she get's to her way of doing things.
1. Spiders, scorpians and snakes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate Atlantis.

A/N: Loosely based on a challenge, I can't remember where from. _What if you were on Atlantis?_ Or something like that.

o0o 

I stood looking up at the event horizon. I could hear SGA-1 and SGA-2 gearing up behind me as I stretched out a hand to touch it. I smiled as the coolness spread across my fingers. Someone approached me from behind, it was Dr. Beckett.

"Ever been off world before, lass?" he asked as he stopped beside me.

"Well I'm here aren't I?" I replied and got the desired chuckle in response.

"Right," He smiled at me.

"Let's go people," Colonel Sheppard said and stepped forward. I watched as the rest of SGA-1 stepped through before I did myself. On the other side, the Stargate sat in the middle of a large clearing surrounded by lush forest. A wide trail led off to the left.

"Alright everyone, looks like we're going left," Sheppard stated the obvious. I walked alongside Dr. Beckett near the rear, just in front of Major Lorne and some other guy I can't remember the name to. I scan my surrounding's, I can hear the noise of what sounds like animals, but I can't see them. As I turn my head something connects with it and I let out an 'Oomph'. Several heads turn to face me as I fall backwards. Now why didn't anyone tell me there was a tree branch there? I rub my fore head as Dr. Beckett kneels beside me.

"Are you alright, lass?" he asks and reaches for my forehead.

"I'm fine, the ground stopped my fall," It draws several amused glances as I sit up; the patch of grass I landed my head on actually did soften the blow. Carson suddenly drew his hand back.

"What?" I asked as they stare at me. I realize I can feel something crawling down my forehead.

"Ah, don't move," Sheppard says and walks forward. It's then that furry legs come into my view. I reach up and can feel a spider. I see from the look in Sheppard's eyes he expects me to scream or something, sheesh. I hold my hand up flat and it crawls onto it. I bring it down to where I can see it. It's furry, fat and green. Yes, _green._ I smile and reach up my other hand to gently pat it.

"Can I keep it?" I ask him. The absolute seriousness in my voice and the look of excitement on my face convinces him that I mean it.

"Ugh, I don't think Dr. Weir would want an alien spider bought back to Atlantis," I glance up and laugh at the look on all their faces.

"I'm not serious, sheesh. Do you actually think I'd be stupid enough to take a spider back to Atlantis, half the people would freak out," I stand with the spider still on my hand. I walk over to a tree and gently place it against it. It quickly scrambles away. I turn back and we continue on our little walk. I don't know why Dr. Weir made me come on this little trip; it had absolutely nothing to do with my area of science as far as I know. It's uneventful for the next half an hour, in which time I manage to trip over twice. Something catches my eye as Dr. Beckett moves a little ahead of me.

"Um, Dr. Beckett, please stop." Dr. Beckett glances over his shoulder but complies.

"What is it, lass?" He asks.

"Just don't move, ok," He looks at me strange but stands still as I walk up behind him. The others have stopped and are also looking at me strange. I gently lift something off his back.

"Okay, you can move now," I tell and draw away from him. He turns around to see what I took and freezes at the sight of the large scorpion like creature that is resting on my outstretched palms. I draw it closer.

"Cool," I mutter as I look it over. As I look up I see that everyone's looking at me again.

"What?" I ask and look at them confused.

"Your-your holding a scorpion, a large one at that!" McKay stutters out. I roll my eyes.

"It's just a scorpion, geez. You people are hopeless." I mutter and look over it again.

"I wonder…" as I say the words the scorpion thing scuttles up my arm and rests on my shoulder.

"Sweet, it likes me," I smile. Sheppard chuckles.

"No you can't keep it," He shakes his head.

"Oh, why not?" I ask in a mock whining tone. He shakes his head again and I set it on the ground, it shots off. As I stand up again. I see McKay looking at me strange. I ignore it and start walking. This time Teyla comes and walks beside me.

"You do not seem afraid of the native wildlife on this planet," She comments and I nod.

"I love animals and the like, there awesome, the way they can adapt, their different abilities. If I'm afraid of them how can I learn about them?" I explain.

"Are you not a scientist?" She asks confused. I nod.

"I am, but animals are a hobby of mine." She smiles and we walk on in silence. A little over ten minutes later the forest thins out and we approach a small village. Several children are running around playing, there are some women washing and several men are just sitting around. A tall man approaches us as we stop on the outskirts. He is wearing what looks like a Native American chief's clothes thought slightly more modern. I tune out as Sheppard introduces us, etc, etc. They do seem friendly enough. My attention returns to the conversation when I find nothing of interest to look at.

"We're explores, travelers," Sheppard explains.

"You are most welcome here, you may tour the village if you wish," The chief man, who had introduced himself as Fre'kil smiles. Sheppard agrees and tells us to be careful. I head off to just wander around. After a while I get bored and lean against a tree, another scorpion-like creature decides it likes me and crawls onto my shoulder. A village man approaches me when he realizes I'm not afraid of it.

"You are one of the travelers, yes?"" He asks me. I nod. He lets a small smile slip onto his face.

"You are not afraid of the Tilpith bug, no?" I nod again. He grins at me.

"Would you like to see our collection of the creatures that live in this forest?"

"I'd love to!" I smile happily. He leads me to a large hut, the Tilpith bug is still sitting on my shoulder. He takes it and places it in what looks like a glass cage, strange they don't seem too advanced but they have something that resembles glass. I look around the room in amazement. There are so many different reptiles! He grins at my look. This is gunna be fun.

o0o 

"Dr. Killion, come in," Sheppard cracks over my radio.

"Killion here, sir," I respond

"We're moving out, where are you?"

"Large hut on the left of the village sir, I'll be right out," I turn to the village men that have been showing me all the different reptiles.

"I have to go now, thank you for showing me all this, and for everything," I smile and they smile in return. I turn and leave the hut. I see the teams gathered on the outskirt of the village and head over to them. As I get closer Teyla points at me and they all turn and stare. I smile and walk straight up to Sheppard.

"Ready to go, sir," I tell him. He stares at me.

"Where in the world did you get _that?" _He asks me.

"What this?" I ask innocently and pat the snake on the head. It's extremely white, with a contrasting black head; it is wrapped around my waist and up my right arm, behind my neck and down my left arm, with its head resting in my palm.

"Yes that, you can't take that back with you," He tells me and I get a little mad.

"Colonel, the village men gave it to me, it would be disrespectful for me to refuse it, and I will not leave it in he forest, it's been raised in captivity," I argue, I _really _want to take this snake home with me.

"Please Colonel, it's not poisonous."

"Fine, but I will not get in trouble from Weir for this, you will, ok?" He sighs.

"Fine with me," I say happily. Sheppard shook his head and we started out for the Stargate again. Lorne keeps looking at me, or my new pet snake. Teyla slows down until I'm beside her.

"Why did they give you a snake?" she asked curiously.

"One of the village men, Jujus, saw me un-afraid of the Tilpith bug; you know that scorpion like creature? Anyway he saw me and took me to this hut where they had all these different reptiles, and told me about them. This here is known as a, um, Giloji. That's the native's name for it. He saw me take an interest in it and gave me it as a gift. He told me that the Giloji is a symbol of hope, as it can survive just about anything. It's also a herbivore, so it eats plants, and I mean any plants. He gave me lots to start with. I was thinking I could get some from the mainland when I run out," I explained. I noticed that the others in the group were quiet and listening in.

"That is truly interesting. Are you willing to let me hold it?" she asked a faint trace of hope in her voice. I smiled.

"Of course, it was raised by Jujus, so is friendly to people, just hold out your arm." I instructed and she did. I lifted its head to her arm and it slithered around it and put itself into much the same position that it had on me. Teyla smiled.

"It feels so different than I thought it would. It is soft and warm." She said amazed.

"Yes, it is," I was still smiling. She lifted her hand and it returned to me, but settled its head on top of mine this time. I laughed and Teyla joined in. We arrived back at the 'gate some time later. I took a deep breath and stepped through the event horizon, wondering what everyone's reaction would be.

o0o 

When I stepped out on he other side, Ji, as I had named him, raised his head high above mine and looked around. Dr. Weir came slowly down the stairs, her eyes trained on Ji. I was aware of the stares I was getting from everyone that could see me.

"Colonel Sheppard?" Weir asked. Sheppard held up his hands.

"Ask Killion," He said and Weir directed her voice at me.

"Dr. Killion, why do you have a snake?" she asked.

"It was a gift from one of the locals, it's totally harmless I swear, and it eats plants." I explained in a rush. Weir raised her eyebrow at me.

"Okay, debriefing in an hour," she nodded and headed back up to the control room, throwing glances at me on the way. I sighed and turned to leave as Dr. Kavanaugh came walking in. He froze when he saw Ji.

"What in the world, is a snake doing in Atlantis?" he demanded. I was about to reply when Ji rose up high above my head again, he began to hiss and lashed forward, Kavanaugh freaked out and scrambled backwards, dropping his things. The room erupted in laughter. I laughed along and Ji settled back onto my head. I smiled and left the room, heading for the science labs to find something from him to sleep in.

o0o 


	2. As hard as i thought

**Disclaimer:** Their not mine, we all know that. Well, I'm mine, so technically I own myself, so therefore you should ask if you want to borrow me…that didn't sound right.

Thank to everyone who reviewed, sorry this took so long, I've been busy. I have no beta, so all mistakes are my own; but I blame them on my cat.

* * *

I hummed to myself as I walked to the mess hall. Ji was with me, I hardly went anywhere without him anymore. It had been two days since I returned from the planet, and I was getting used to the stares that were directed at me and Ji. I was starving, and needed food. As I entered, I got the expected stares as I went to collect my food.

"Hey Jess," I said to the cook behind the counter.

"Hey Dani, how's Ji today?" Jess was one of the few people who liked Ji as much as I did, well nearly as much as I did.

"Grumpy, he won't eat for me," I sighed and finished getting my food. I bid Jess goodbye and headed for an empty table near one of the windows. As I sat down Ji slid off me and slithered over to the window, he curled up and basked in the sun-light. I smiled and started eating. A shadow fell over me and I looked up to see Ronan looking down at me. He sat down without a word and started eating. I smiled and continued on with my food. Gradually, Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne, Teyla, Dr. McKay and Dr. Parrish joined us. I got into a heated… discussion with Dr. McKay over which food was better, baked potatoes, or steak.

"_Please_, how can you even compare baked potatoes to steak? Really there is no competition, steak wins hands down!" I argued.

"Right and you are a famous pop star!" He bit back sarcastically.

"Really? Wow, thank you Dr. McKay. I had no idea you enjoyed my singing so much," the table erupted with laughter and McKay scowled at me. I smiled back at him innocently.

"Okay, that should be against health regulations!" McKay screeched out a couple of minutes later.

I looked at McKay confused, "What?"

"That!" He pointed down the table at Ji. I turned my head to get a better look and saw Ji shedding his skin. I smiled to myself.

"You'll get over it," I retorted. Ji came slithering down the table and around the other's trays. He stopped in front of mine and grabbed at the green vegetables on my tray.

"Oh, so _now_ you're hungry! Typical," I aimed my comment at Ji but snickers broke out from the table.

My gaze returned to the shredded skin on the end of the table, and I stood and walked towards it. I picked it up and realized it was hard.

"Wow," I breathed and hit it against the able, it didn't even dent.

"Sweet," I looked up to see everyone at the table staring at me. Why did people do that every time I did something? An idea popped into my head and I grinned. I walked up behind McKay.

"What are you doing?" he asked annoyed. I was still grinning. I swung the hard skin around and whacked him on the side of the head, gently; okay not _gently, _but not hard enough to hurt him… too much. I inspected the skin and ignored his shocked complaints. There was a small dint in the skin.

"Well wadda ya know, McKay's head is as hard as I thought," The table roared with laughter at the comment and I smiled. McKay pouted.

"Not funny," He complained, quieter.

"It was to us, I'm afraid. Now if you'll excuse me; I have work to do," I glanced back at the tale to find Ji in a staring contest with Ronon.

"You hurt him, I hurt you," I stated simply and left.

* * *

_Back in the mess hall…_

Ronon stared at Dr. Killion's retreating back; then turned back to the table. He eyed McKay.

"What does she do?' he asked gruffly.

"Marine biologist," was his simple reply. Ronon snorted, as if she could hurt him. When he looked back up McKay was staring at him as 'Ji' slithered up his broad shoulder.

"What?"

"I wouldn't hurt the snake if I were you; I don't doubt she could put you in the infirmary if she tried," With that, McKay left the mess hall.


End file.
